I have provided all the best speculation so far this year, but due to unforseen and uncooporative types on this blog I decided to withhold anymore of my contributions as many of you might have noticed.

That is until I saw that Monk had updated and fooled myself into thinking that all of the detractors would have quieted down and allowed legitimate information to be shared...but alas, same old same old.

@ 10:56 No, I meant that some random Daft Punk speculation bullshit was posted here, then the next day posted by some lurker on the Coachella boards. I laughed because some newb decided his "reason" Daft Punk was definitely showing up this year was so good he needed to share it everywhere. I can see how you'd be confused

@anonymous 2:59I think and hope they'll be there. Radiohead has confirmed a 2012 tour and we can probably count on Clive being the second drummer. So we can only speculate that Portishead could and would play! Please please please.

Portishead will not be there. We spoke to Adrian Utley at ATP this weekend. He said no. They're going into the studio at the first of the year to record. You can hope all you want, but when a band member tells you it's not happening, you should probably take their word for it and move on.

Look guys, once upon a time, on July 13, 2011, walter j was appeared before us for the first time a man who dreamed of a lineup headlined by No Doubt, Outkast, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Radiohead. Over the course of the following week he would continue to post based on conjecture and likelihood until magically, on July 20, 2011, at 8:34 PM, he acquired sources. Did he know at that moment that he had just given birth to countless impersonators whose presence would soon come to define the blog, overshadowing Monklish herself? We may never know. What we are in fact sure of, is that these threads will never be the same. He is both reviled and idolized in a manner never before seen. The name, Walter J, has truly been etched in coachella lore, assured of a long-lasting legacy, whatever that may come to be. And that's the way it is.

When I heard the learn'd astronomer,When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me,When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them,When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room,How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick,Till rising and gliding out I wander'd off by myself,In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars.

@ Walter Mondale...is LA rising at Dodger Stadium? I heard from someone who interns at GV(yes really, but I dont trust GV gossip/overheard shit) that DP was in talks for a 2012 concert at dodger stadium

This has been proven by some questionable bookings in previous years...your beloved alternative and "indie" festival is no more...its a cash cow awaiting your hard earned bucks. Pay up your vice is $269.00 plus service charges ya fiends.

-Belle & Sebastian will be there-My Morning Jacket won't-Justice will indeed close out the main stage one of the yet to be determined nights. They are currently working on a hush hush project with the Creator's Project to accomdate the Coachella Stage dimensions.-One of the headliners will premier its' new stage set up at Coachella.-Skrillex won't be there again.-Foster the People will be back on one of the outdoor stages.-deadmau5 will not be there.-There will be two artists there that due to the volcano in 2010 were unable to attend.

Radiohead and Coldplay are headlining, and the third headliner is either No Doubt or Red Hot Chili Peppers. Hopefully Monklish knows which one it really is, because there seems to be a lot of disinformation being spread. Yes, this would be RHCP's third time headlining, John Frusciante is not in the band any longer, and the new album has not spawned any hits with endless radio support, but just like the other headliners, they are what is available for booking in April 2012. I don't like it any more than a lot of you, but expect great things on the other stages at the time because the lineup is going to be stacked.

Confirmed or expected acts rounding out the top few lines of the bill include My Morning Jacket, Pulp, The Stooges, Florence & the Machine, Justice, Elvis Costello, TV on the Radio, Bon Iver, Fiona Apple, A Tribe Called Quest, Beirut, The Shins, and Fatboy Slim.

Who won't be there? The Knife won't have their new album ready until late 2012, so expect a tour then and possibly an appearance at Coachella 2013. For reasons that remain a mystery, Feist is once again not happening. The Rolling Stones and Daft Punk still won't be ready to tour, and Outkast will probably never happen with Big Boi's highly lucrative solo touring and Andre 3000's refusal to play. Damon Albarn has decided against reforming Blur for another round of live shows in favor of focusing on one of his countless other projects. There are a couple lower to mid-tier reunions in the works, but these left-fielders remain a mystery. How to Destroy Angels will probably never happen. The status of Beastie Boys is still in the air.

The newly doubled Coachella is being seized upon as a quick cash or publicity grab, logistics solver, or an opportunity for a paid vacation for a lot of acts that would otherwise skip the festival. Believe it or not, some acts just couldn't make Coachella work for them in the past, whether it's due to it occurring so much earlier than the rest of the festival season or factors such as radius clauses. Pulp will be performing a brief American tour that probably would not have ever happened without the payday that comes from two festival gigs. In addition to their handful of shows in the Americas and possibly a few in Asia, they will perform one final gig in Sheffield before disbanding permanently. Her new album may not be complete until later, but Bat for Lashes will finally grace the desert. The proximity to Joshua Tree presumably helped. It's taken a long time for Elvis Costello and Fiona Apple to play Coachella, but it's at last a reality. Some bottom-of-the-bill international acts that would not have been able to play before now can thanks to a week that can be spent taking care of business affairs or studio time in LA or touring the west coast.

In regards to Walter J, I cannot verify the veracity of his entire list, but it should be obvious by now that he does have insider sources since some of the acts he listed later went on to announce 2012 albums and/or touring. A Tribe Called Quest was supposed to be a big surprise, so it's very impressive that he scooped that one.

Some acts are still up in the air. Jeff Mangum is being strongly pursued to perform a sunset slot on the Outdoor Theatre, but he is uncertain about his readiness to perform to such a massive crowd. If the Mangster agrees, expect most of the other stages to fall silent during his set. Fleet Foxes seem like an obvious candidate, but my sources say they may not be touring at the time. Yeah Yeah Yeahs or Franz Ferdinand might return, and while both are due for a return, I have no solid leads on either. Aphex Twin hopes are surfacing among fans, thanks to the Future Music Festival, but he lamented his one-hour set time in 2008 and only plays America once every 5-6 years, anyway. Don't even get me started on The Weeknd. 50/50 chance of The Avalanches doing a DJ set.

Underworld, The Prodigy, Deadmau5, Skrillex, Tiesto, and Soulwax will not be bringing the beats, but Hot Chip, Kaskade, Avicii, Major Lazer, Holy Ghost!, The Juan Maclean, Special Disco Version, The Rapture, Porter Robinson, Feed Me, and Dada Life will.

@6:03 - Nice half-assed attempt to sound like the guy who put the last "long winded/insider scoop" on Monklish's blog (the one about internal Sahara disputes and Kreayshawn). I'm embarrassed for you and I hope you didn't spend too much time writing that.

I want to play, and I'm popular enough, but my music is not quite good enough. I have talent, but my music is so cheesy. Can't believe some of you fall for it. Plus, my dance move suck. I want to play, but Coachella really isn't the place for me.

I can unequivocally say that the "internal conflicts about the Sahara" post was total horseshit. We strive to deliver the best bands and DJs possible to our audience. Conceptual ideas about direction aren't as big as you would think. If an act is good, we want them. We are good at knowing what feels right for Coachella. Our meetings are a lot less entertaining than you would hope. Thanks for supporting the festival, and I hope you are just as excited as we are when the real lineup is announced next year.

More electronic music than even 2011. Justice will be on the main stage before Outkast. Swedish House Mafia on the main after Coldplay. Every indie synth pop band you have ever heard that didn't play '11? All a GO, plus a big return of Foster the People. The Knife is a GO!

Once a couple names leak through various artist feature stories in the media and the coachella board claims credit for having found them and once Windish updates their avails list for 2012, then we will get a Monklish post.

does anyone else think there is a possibility that Roger Waters does his final "The Wall" show at coachella this year? His tour dates match up perfectly to end at coachella and he has put on an amazing performance before. Plus he is 68 so who even know if he will ever tour again. Also on a side note if that were to be his final show EVER, Im pretty sure he could convince David and Nick to show up too. anyone else thing there is any possibility to any of this happening?

the beatles have a better chance of headlining before david and rodger sharing a stage again.

and there is no way they would play 2 back to back shows at coachella(over all the other venues and countries in the world). matter of fact jesus has a better chance headlining than pink floyd does. and dont give me any shit about live 8. a bunch of douchy hipsters and candy kids in the desert is alittle diffrent motivation than that

the beatles have a better chance of headlining before david and rodger sharing a stage again.

and there is no way they would play 2 back to back shows at coachella(over all the other venues and countries in the world). matter of fact jesus has a better chance headlining than pink floyd does. and dont give me any shit about live 8. a bunch of douchy hipsters and candy kids in the desert is alittle diffrent motivation than that

It seems a lot of you don't know shit about Waters. He just did an interview saying he's bringing the Wall to outdoor venues next year and especially outdoor venues he didn't hit last time around. Also, he's doing a South American tour, with the last stop being in Brazil on 4/1. He's DEFINITELY doing the US again next year and might even do Europe in 2013.

So to say that there's less than a 0% chance or he's doing his final show soon is just plain idiotic. Read before you post.

Seriously guys, has anybody even read the Desert Sun article from MONTHS AGO where Paul T said, verbatim, that the festival headliners are not skewing old or young? The Wall is absolutely skewing old. We will not see a classic rock band this year. We also will not see a Kings of Leon-esque new rising band headliner.

Radiohead, Coldplay, No Doubt have all been heavily rumored, Coldplay's tour starts in April, all three have a new album (well, No Doubt is theoretically going to have an album), and they work within Paul T's clues about the age of the bands. If two out of three of the headliners are not from that list I will murder my first born child.

Booking Waters isn't necessarily skewing old, like 09 was, as long as the other headliners are more current. If memory serves Paul said the headliners were a bit of a mixed bag when it came to the age thing. So, having Waters one day, in addition to Radiohead and Phoenix(just an example of a younger potential headliner, they won't headline any time soon..) or something to that degree would fit with Paul's statements..

That doesn't mean that every single act at Coachella is going to be made up of people between 30-45. It means the entire festival doesn't skew young or old. It means we won't have 3 young headliners (KOL, AF, Kanye) or 2-3 old headliners (Prince, Waters, McCartney, Cure). He's not saying that one older headliner can't be there or one younger headliner can't be there.

And seriously WTF is up with people and Phoenix headlining? They played the outdoor in 2010.

The real question is why do people think Phoenix is going to get bigger after their next album? They'd been doing their thing for a while before WAP became a crossover smash. Sort of similar to Kings of Leon and Only by the NIght. (not comparing the bands, just the career trajectories) While it's not out of the question that their next album makes them even bigger, I think its more reasonable to believe that they'll never be bigger than right after Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix dropped and you couldn't turn on the radio without hearing 1901 or Lisztomania. Basically saying that if they couldn't headline 2010 they might not ever be able to.

Justice is playing at coachella 2012... If you check their tour dates they are around southern California for both weekends. They are in Oakland and in Vegas and oddly enough they are doing a world tour and not playing in socal. And they have historically said they love the coachella festival. They are headlining both weekends.... It's not just a coincidence that their world tour takes them straight through souther California during coachella.